The concept of sustainable was defined in the UN World

Commission on Environment and Development’s (WCED) 1987 publication Our Common

Future. This report defined sustainable as "development which meets the needs of
the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".15

. A safe and sustainable energy pathway is crucial to sustainable development; we

have not
yet found it. Rates of increase in energy use have been declining. However, the
industrialization, agricultural development, and rapidly growing populations of
developing
nations will need much more energy. Today, the average person in an industrial
market
economy uses more than 80 times as much energy as someone in sub-Saharan Africa.
Thus
any realistic global energy scenario must provide for substantially increased
primary energy
use by developing countries.
59. To bring developing countries' energy use up to industrialized country levels
by the year
2025 would require increasing present global energy use by a factor of five. The
planetary
ecosystem could not stand this, especially if the increases were based on non-
renewable fossil
fuels. Threats of global warming and acidification of the environment most probably
rule out
even a doubling of energy use bared on present mixes of primary sources.
60. Any new era of economic growth must therefore be less energy intensive than
growth in
the past. Energy efficiency policies must be the cutting edge of national energy
strategies for
sustainable development, and there is much scope for improvement in this direction.
Modern
appliances can be redesigned to deliver the same amounts of energy-services with
only
two-thirds or even one-half of the primary energy inputs needed to run traditional
equipment.
And energy efficiency solutions are often cost-effective.
61. After almost four decades of immense technological effort, nuclear energy has
become
widely used. During this period, however, the nature of its costs, risks, and
benefits have
become more evident and the subject of sharp controversy. Different countries
world-wide
take up different positions on the use of nuclear energy. The discussion in the
Commission
also reflected these different views and positions. Yet all agreed that the
generation of nuclear
power is only justifiable if there are solid solutions to the unsolved problems to
which it gives
rise. The highest priority should be accorded to research and development on
environmentally
sound and ecologically viable alternatives, as well as on means of increasing the
safety of
nuclear energy.
62. Energy efficiency can only buy time for the world to develop 'low-energy paths'
based on
renewable sources, which should form the foundation of the global energy structure
during the
21st Century. Most of these sources are currently problematic, but given innovative
development, they could supply the same amount of primary energy the planet now
consumes. However, achieving these use levels will require a programme of
coordinated
research, development, and demonstration projects commanding funding necessary to
ensure
the rapid development of renewable energy. Developing countries will require
assistance to
change their energy use patterns in this direction.
63. Millions of people in the developing world are short of fuelwood, the main
domestic energy
of half of humanity, and their numbers are growing. The wood-poor nations must
organize
their agricultural sectors to produce large amounts of wood and other plant fuels.
64. The substantial changes required in the present global energy mix will not be
achieved by
market pressures alone, given the dominant role of governments as producers of
energy and
their importance as consumers. If the recent momentum behind annual gains in energy
efficiency is to be maintained and extended,governments need to make it an explicit
goal of
their policies for energy pricing to consumers, prices needed to encourage the
adoption of
energy-saving measures may be achieved through several means. Although the
Commission
expresses no preference, 'conservation pricing' requires that governments take a
long-term
view in weighing the costs and benefits of the various measures. Given the
importance of oil
prices on international energy policy, new mechanisms for encouraging dialogue
between
consumers and producers should be explored.
65. A safe, environmentally sound, and economically viable energy pathway that will
sustain
human progress into the distant future is clearly imperative. It is also possible.
But it will
require new dimensions of political will and institutional cooperation to achieve
it. (See
Chapter 7 for a wider discussion of these issues and recommendations.)